I’m a little late to the party, but this is a good video for people questioning on nickel plated shot.

https://youtu.be/Bp5ESO49Dlo?si=gaheSbgO3W13eebj

I bought some number six nickel plated shot from BPI a couple years ago and used it for turkey hunting. I had a bunch of feathers they got sucked into the meat from the number six shot. It worked just fine BUT it’s not very hard shot. Plain old cheap magnum lead shot is way harder…and penatrates deeper. Next time I’ll buy some from Prescion to try since the video above says it’s the SAME hardness as plain old non plated magnum lead shot. Really no reason to waste the extra money since plain old Magnum non plated lead shot is just as hard. Nickel might give a little better patterns but imo not enough to matter. Imo todays modern nickel plated shot is a Gimmic.

I was told by Precision Reloading that their nickel plated shot starts out as West Coast Magnum Shot. It is copper coated (plated) then nickel plated. The nickel needs the copper in order to adhere. They said copper plating is no more that a wash, not really a plating. There is a YouTube video were a guy test the plating and hardness of Ballistic Products vs Precision Reloading and Precision Reloading was far better.

Back in the early 1970s when I was the token officer on the ComNavAirPac Skeet & Trap Team, we were issued cases of Peters 3-dram equiv. 1 1/8-ounce #8 & #9 Skeet Loads and Remington 3 1/4-dram equiv. 1 1/4-ounce #7 1/2 nickeled International Trap Loads.

Attachment 135895

We were all really skeet shooters. The only thing I did with the International Trap Loads was shoot ducks on the Oceanside Marsh at Camp Pendelton.

That is my nickel plated shot story.

I’d be intrested to know what kinda velocity they were claiming with the 1 1/4 ounce nickel plated ? I think the nickel plated flyer loads I had were Fioochi .

Did you click the YouTube link in my year and half old post above yours? lol. It has the link to the video you are referring to.

I have used the PR nickel plated shot for several years in a .410 load I worked up for doves. It sends .73 oz. of 8s at roughly 1150 fps. When I began testing it on doves I was comparing it to WW 3/4 oz. lead loads at about the same velocity.

I was getting a lot of cripples with the WW factory loads but the nickel plated shot increased the percentage of dishrag dead doves substantially. It is a standby for me now.

I ended up trading some lead #2 shot for a 25 pound bag of Magnum chilled lead number five. It’s harder than the PR steel shot. I did the squish test from the video above on it. I loaded about a 100 rounds for my 10 gauge with a 2.5 ounce payload. You should see the patterns I get with it at 55 yards. It’s ridiculous. Pretty close to heavy shot patterns or right with it.

Rearranging my gunroom recently, I found a remaining partial box of the above referenced loads; the specifics on my label are as follows:

Hull: Federal League 2 3/4"
Wad: BPS with a BP gas seal
Powder: 38 grains of Blue Dot (!)
Primer: W209
Shot: 1 3/8 oz. BP #3 Nickel with poly buffer (as I recall it was GREX)
Velocity: 1360 fps
Pressure: 8,700 LUP (published by BP, not measured by me)
Loader: MEC 600 JR w/ 8 pt. crimp


I reloaded these rounds in Sept. 1982. They remain "stout" at the pattern board today, and remain the best Brant load I have ever used.

Are brant edible, Kevin? Always wanted to hunt sea ducks but never heard anyone brag on them as table fare.

Those sea ducks are a good substitute if you don't have any fish. :rotf::rotf: